The Importance of the Final Stretch in the Regular Season

The Washington Capitals became the first team in the NHL to reach the 100 points and to clinch a playoff berth. The other ones that have joined them as of now are the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Chicago Blackhawks. There is less than a month remaining the regular season, but the last games show us which of the teams are going to the playoffs.

The Capitals have 11 games remaining: five at home and six away. And about the six away games, the Caps are gonna play five straight on the road, an endurance test before the playoffs. Actually, if we get back to January, we’ve see a true endurance test the Caps went through brilliantly: depth-scoring winnings against elite NHL teams. The Caps have defeated Columbus by 5-0, Montreal by 4-1, Pittsburgh by 5-2 and Chicago by 6-0. One of these wins were part of the franchise record sat up by the Caps, with 14-game home win streak. Scoring so many goals and suffering the less goals as possible are some of the recipes for success.

About scoring goals, the bottom lines have done a great job contributing to the Caps’ depth-scoring, which is important. So, the top-six won’t be overloaded by the pressure and responsibility. And the defense is pretty well: the Caps are the team with the best goals against average (159) and, harmoniously with the offensive department, the team has also the best goal differential (+69).

The Caps’ performance in these final games during the regular season will show us how the current team is playing and if it has the capacity to get great conquest during the playoffs, something that the fans are waiting for a long time. And this team has great chances to do it.